Infinite Stratos: The Sky of Tomorrow
by ChaosVector
Summary: What if Orimura Ichika wasn't the only male IS pilot in the world? What if a US Special Forces soldier also found out that he could pilot one? OC x Canon. To whom Ichika gets paired with, has already been decided. Rated M for language and violence.
1. Prologue: Just Another Day  Part 1

Just to make this clear, I do **NOT** own Infinite Stratos or any of its characters. But I'd love to have my very own IS. Not like I could even pilot one, though. Just sayin'... This is my first ever (published) fan fic, so go easy on me. Anyways...

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><p><em><strong>Prologue: Just Another Day - <strong>__**Part 1 **__**[START]**_

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><p><em><strong>0831 hours, Jul. 26, 20XX<br>Somewhere in Middle East Asia  
>Operation 'Idolino Liberandum'<br>**_**  
>It was hot.<strong>

"-ky!"

_"Huh? What was that?"_I thought to myself._  
><em>  
><strong>The heat in this desert, in this God forsaken country, was killing us.<br>**_  
><em>"Sky!"

There it goes again. Wait… Sky?

**Damn it.**

"Captain Ayasaki! This isn't the best time to have one of your famous daydreams!" shouted my commanding officer.

Commander Alex snapped me back into reality.  
><strong><br>Those terrorists shooting at us weren't helping, either.**

We were almost surrounded. Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of our minds on what seems to be a suicide mission.

"Get on the minigun and shoot that _thing _down!" he said, still shouting at me, all the while standing up and shooting at some poor bastard that was out of cover with his M16A4. Though with all the gunfire, I can't blame you for it. Even so, Major… Don't shout, I'm right beside you. No, really. We're both on the same side of a Humvee that we're now using for cover.

I nodded while replying with a "Yessir!"

As I stood up, about to get to the Humvee's mounted gun, something came to mind. And I stopped for a while.

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><p>I then made it into the Humvee, and got into the gunner's "seat." I unleashed hell on the SOBs not in cover and easily shredded 2 Technicals. All in 6 seconds' time. The 7th second, I was shot right between the eyes. I was instantly killed. I should've focused my fire where my killer is… was. With suppressing fire and the man behind it gone, the remainder of my team and the Major would soon follow.<p>

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><p>...<p>

Whoa, good thing that never happened. I really have to work hard on differentiating the present from those visions of the near future.  
><strong><br>**"Sky, why the hell aren't you-" He stopped. The Major must've seen the look on my face. "You saw something… didn't you?"

I nodded.

We both went silent. The sounds of gunfire still persisted. While we both… stopped. I was still wondering though, why the hell aren't we dead yet with that _thing_on their side.

As I was about to say "It was an honor to serve with you!" to the Commander, I saw something else.

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><p>Three of my men die from the explosion of a Humvee. I get closer to them, with the Major covering me, and got their dog tags. The first dog tag had the name of Cpl. Rodriguez, callsign "Chemo." The second one had Sgt. Hughes' name, callsign "Viper." The third and last one had the name "Fate" on it. No... When I checked to see it, the name... 1Lt. Aria La Croix.<p>

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><p>"God…" I won't let that happen!<p>

"Aria! Chemo! Viper! Get away from that Humvee!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

At first, the three didn't move. But as soon as Chemo got the picture, he started running towards our direction. Viper looked over at Aria and motioned his head towards us and made a run for it. While Aria just stood there, her face flushed a crimson red.

What the-? Aria, this isn't the time to be embarrassed about something. "Run for it!" I screamed once again. "That is a goddamn order, Lieutenant!"

She shook her head, her face returning to her usual expression and made a break for it. By the time she had just started running, Viper made it to us. That's when something I already saw in my vision caught my eye. A laser came from above, and struck the Humvee that the three used as cover moments ago. I tried to find the _thing_that fired it. I saw it circling above us, like a vulture. Oh, how I'd love to shoot you down. I returned my gaze back to the Earth... Where I found a tragic sight. A body. Not just anyone's body... Aria's. Lying face-down on the desert sand. The sand beneath her head stained with her blood. The explosion must have knocked her forward.

I grew uneasy, was she still alive? No, I can't think that way. There's only one way to find out. "Chemo, Viper! Cover me!" with that I dashed towards Aria, not even waiting for the two to confirm their orders. "ARIA!"

I was surprised, as the distance between her and I closed, I saw that she was trying to sit herself up. When I got to her I helped her lie face up instead. If she could move and try to get up, she might as well lie down. I could've sworn that she was holding back the pain, since she was biting her bottom lip.

"I... can still fight, sir..." Aria said in a slurred voice, while trying to stand up.

"In the current condition you're in? Don't make me worry more than you need to, Aria. Just stay still for a while." I replied in a way that… made her blush? Why do you keep getting like that over nothing? When this is all over, I'm sending you to the infirmary. You may or may not have contracted some sort of sickness here.

She stopped and lied back down again. I had to help her lay down, lest the injuries she may have worsen. "Alright..." she said in a soft voice.

"Viper!" I shouted towards him.

"Sir?" he quickly replied, taking cover.

"In the Humvee, there should be a brown bag behind the driver's seat. Get the canteen in it."

"Understood." he quickly replied, once again. It didn't take long for him to find it.

"Throw it!" I said. He did as he was told.

I barely caught it. I opened it and poured some over her head wound. That should take care of the sand that was left there.

What? We don't have any other form of antiseptic. Close enough...

I took out an emergency first-aid kit from the left pocket of my uniform. I took out a dressing, a sterile non-adherent pad, and applied it directly to the gash on her forehead. Then I secured the dressing with an elastic roller bandage. "… and let me see what's wrong with you."

"What do you mean 'see what's wrong with me'?" Aria replied, her voice still slurry. "You already fixed up my head."

"It is how it is..." was what I said. I think she was about to say something, until I took off her kevlar vest, desert camouflage uniform, and only raised up the t-shirt beneath it.

No, I did not have any perverted intentions at all... Well, not at that moment, at least.

"S-sir... W-what're you d-d-doing?" she said, not only slurring, now she was even stuttering. Her hands were trying to lower down the bottom hem of her t-shirt, but I stopped her.

"How am I supposed to know if you've got broken ribs with all that bulky equipment on you?" I said.

"The t-shirt isn't bulky... sir." she replied, minus the stuttering and plus the attitude.

... True.

Continuing... I found that she indeed had some broken ribs, just peachy. As I was about to clothe her again, I noticed that she crossed her arms and it was blocking her -how do I say this in a modest way?- chest. I noticed a white cloth strip bandaged across her. A chest binding?

"Just where do you think you're looking at?" she said. She glared at me like she was going to kill me. If it weren't for the situation we were in, I would've made any excuse just to get far away from her as possible.

Wait, her eyes!

"Aria, look at me." I said while cupping her chin, "Look into my eyes."

"But... I'm always looking at you..." she - Wha-?

"Huh? What did you just say?" I asked. Maybe the heat is getting to me?

"N-nothing," she replied while blushing again. Seriously, I just bandaged that gash on your head. Don't go blushing like that. Blood will rush to your head. That won't help you. "I just said 'I'm looking at you'... Now what?"

I stared into her eyes.

Those majestic blue eyes of hers… Enough.

Her pupils... They were unequal in size. Her now slurred speech pattern. That could mean a lot of things… According to my limited knowledge in the medical field... she has a concussion. We need to get her back to base immediately. I'm not sure how mild or severe it may be, but it's better to treat this as a worst-case scenario, just to be safe. But, while we were-

Just then, that _thing_ started shooting its lasers at us again. But, none of them hit anyone of us. It's as if it was just randomly shooting. I could even see _it_shoot and utterly destroy a single Technical and whoever was in it and vaporize many of its allies.

Friendly fire? That _thing_sure ain't friendly.

How the hell did it get to this?

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><p><strong>Earlier today…<strong>

0630, Jul. 26, 20XX  
>A military base somewhere in Middle East Asia<p>

HQ lost contact with our CO ever since his heli was shot down by an unknown air unit. The pilot couldn't even say _what_was about to kill them all, before explosions could be heard followed by that oh so annoying static noise.

We all dreaded that our Commander Alex had also died. But our worry was for naught, because minutes afterwards; a distress beacon was found. It was a voice transmission: "This is Major Alexander Miller of the US Special Forces. My transport was shot down not too long ago; I think I'm the only one who made it out in one piece. I need immediate evac! They'll swarm all over me in no time. *Engines revving, then silence* Oh shi- I've been compromised."

_-=In the briefing room=-_

"Oh well, that's _the_Wraith for you." I said in a carefree manner. Even though I'm standing right in front of my men, "Just when you think he's dead. Hahaha! I gotta hand it to him, how many times has he cheated Death already?"

"But sir," Fate, my second-in-command, said. "We should still-"

"I know." I hastily replied, "We now have a CSAR* on our hands."

"Find the Commander and get him back on our turf. Are we clear?"

"HOOAH!" was the collective response of the soldiers stationed here.

"I want my Shadow Squadron prepped for recon. Of course, I'll be going with. If Shadow manages to find the Major before the others, I'll call it in. Hammer is to provide extraction. Sword is to attack any hostiles and buy time for Hammer to get in and come out with us. Shield is to defend this base; they may, or may not, attack this base while the majority is out. I highly doubt it, but I'm not risking it."

"We're Oscar Mike** in five, people."

...

After those five minutes, we left.

Shadow Squadron is my personal unit. The members were handpicked by yours truly, is well-balanced. A 'jack-of-all-trades, master of none' team together, but individually; we all have our specialties.

My second-in-command, First Lieutenant Aria "Fate" La Croix, for example, is our sniper. Her weapon of choice is the Barrett M82A1. She'd rather end the lives of those caught in her scope, not with a whimper, but a bang. Which contrasts a certain poem of T.S. Elliot's.  
>Our resident medic is Corporal James "Chemo" Rodriguez. Before joining the military he was halfway through his dream of becoming a doctor, like his father… But for a reason that he has kept secret until now, he dropped out of school and joined to serve his fellow countrymen. Even though he never finished, his skills have been an invaluable asset to the wounded. The allied wounded. His weapon is the standard MP5.<br>Our _'psychopath'_ of the team, is none other than Sergeant Chris "Viper" Hughes. His attitude is… questionable. But when you get to know him better and fight alongside him, you'll see that his intentions are for the better of the team. He plays dirty, using under-handed, but legal, methods of dealing with the enemy. I don't want to even start on describing it. He likes to blow things up; especially when he can stick a pack of C4 onto a dead body, wait for its allies to see if the guy is still alive, and then detonate it when they're nearest to the explosive's inner blast radius. Poor bastards.  
>We have "Zero," our <em>'hijacker.' <em>He utilizes any mode of land transport there is in the battlefield, albeit reckless at maneuvering when enemies are nearby. Most of his kills are from making them roadkill, instead of striking them with hot lead.  
>Then there's "Snow," she's a full-blooded Japanese, but was born in a country within US territory; making her eligible to join the Army. She's silent and a rather emotionless type. She almost never socializes with the team, besides Fate and, on those rare occasions, myself. But that doesn't affect her chemistry with the team. In fact, in the field, she's the most proactive one. She randomly inserts herself into my plans. But, instead of messing it up for us, she improves it. That's why I pay no mind to her involuntary insertions into any of my plans, since I always get results.<br>There are 6 others in my team, but it can wait for a later time.

We were riding in Humvees. There were three in total. One is mounted with a M134 Minigun, that's the Humvee in front, the one I was riding in. The second one mounted with a TOW Missile Launcher. The third one's equipped with Raytheon surface-to-air missiles. As to how we got a mobile SAM site, I'll never know.

ETA to the distress beacon was about 12 minutes.

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><p>12 minutes later… He was not there.<p>

Multiple searches throughout the desert, we came across some ruins. There, we successfully found the Commander, still very much alive. Of course, we took care of his pursuers.

Our _irresponsible _leader maintained radio silence a week prior, until now.

He filled us in that he had infiltrated a terrorist cell… as a prisoner. CIA had received intel that this particular cell had experimented with improvised SCUD Launchers and an unknown contingent. So, the Agency sent in someone who could bring them results, and fast. I don't need to tell you who do I? After days of torture-interrogation, he had found the moment to stage a prison break. With the data he was looking for, acquired; he had to find a way out. After blowing up their only means of communications back to the stone age, he stole a ride out. He was to wait for extraction at a pre-designated location at 0550 hours. He was indeed extracted via Chinook filled with combat personnel, if the LZ*** was hot. They were soon compromised and shot down.

After telling us the story of his [recent] life, I wanted to inquire about this so called intel that he had risked his life for. But before he could even start to speak, we encountered that _thing_... an **Infinite Stratos**.

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><p><em><strong>Prologue: <strong>__**Just Another Day - **__**Part 1 **__**[END]**_

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><p>* <strong>C<strong>ombat **S**earch **A**nd **R**escue  
>** Oscar Mike is another term for 'goingen route'  
>*** <strong>L<strong>anding** Z**one (I wanted to us the term "**L** **Z**ed," but I forgot they aren't all British.

Please _Read_, wait if you're reading this part already, that means you already have... So, if you've got time, you might as well _Review_... right?


	2. Prologue: Where It All Began Part 1

Sorry it took a long time! Whenever I had free time, my friends always manage to have me play _League of Legends _with them. *Sigh* Oh well. Here's a new chapter. It's a prologue... for the prologue. Prologue-ception...? Am I doing this right? Meh...

Just to make this clear, I do **NOT **own Infinite Stratos or any of its characters. But I'd love to have my very own IS. Not like I could even pilot one, though. Just sayin'...

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><p><em><strong>Prologue: Where It All Began - Part 1 [START]<strong>_

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><p>My name is Ayasaki Sora. In most countries, the given name is first, making it Sora Ayasaki. Which I found hard to get used to, ever since stepping foot on American soil. After 16 years of being in Japan, I needed to come here to the US. The sole reason I came here… for the sake of my little sister, Mikoto.<p>

I think this is a proper time to shed some light on the subject, don't you? Well then, let me tell you more about her and my not-so-distant past…

Ayasaki Mikoto, 14 years old. She was a sickly girl. Due to some incurable illness, she sometimes had to be excused from school. Every morning that she didn't go to school, I always checked up on her. Took her temperature, changed the moist towel on her head, and on those rare occasions where her close friends or the maid didn't make it in time… I was the one who had to wipe her down and change her clothes. To think, the second naked body of a girl I'd ever see would be that of my sister's… Ughhh.*shiver* NO! I didn't mean it like she was ugly or anything! On the contrary, she was very… beautiful. I've heard rumors that she was one of the popular girls in her middle school for being a naturally unselfish person. That she doesn't discriminate and talks to every equally, regardless of their social standing. She always smiles in school, so it's fun to talk with her.

That kind of makes me proud to be her brother. Though, people tried to take advantage of that.

Other girls push their burdens onto her, to which she'd accept without hesitation. Most of those "burdens" were cleaning duties. I swear, if someone had told me earlier, I would've stormed into her class and given those heartless bitches a piece of my mind. I mean, her body was already straining going to school... then she's coerced into cleaning up for them? Almost everyday? This is one madness that I will not let pass by in my _metaphorical_ Sparta. On the very same day, I half-persuaded, half-blackmailed the principal of that school of hers to _change _a few things. I'm good with words. Very good with them... After that Mikoto started coming home early, telling me it was due to one of the new policies that required "those with health complications to go home directly, disregarding any form of duty that he/she may have."

That was one problem dealt with, but it wasn't the last.

Neither was it the worst.

One afternoon just after my classes ended, I received a text from one of Mikoto's friends, Misaki. I think she was in a year level higher than Miko- Oh never mind, back to the important part, the contents of the text.

"Onii-san, this is Misaki. This is about Mikoto... Some scary people took her. You have to help. I've called the police already, but there's no response from them yet. Please meet me at XXXXXXXX ASAP. I think I know where they took her. Hurry!"

I was... No words could describe how I felt after reading that. I just felt an unusual feeling. Like something was injected into my bloodstream that made my blood boil. Who knew a single text could make me feel... like I wanted to kill someone?

I dropped the cellphone, I got up from my chair, and dashed for the door. I bumped into the tables and chairs in the room, and right before I got out of the classroom and into the hallway... something hit me. I mean it literally. Someone punched me in the stomach. I fell hard on the floor. The PE Teacher, Fujiwara Gen, was apparently the one who did that. That guy, ever since day one, has made it clear to me many times that I wasn't one of the people he respected. Which, I didn't really care about. Just because I can talk my way out of PE class, doesn't mean he has to hate me for it.

"Ayasaki! What the hell are you doing? Making this kind of commotion? You're not leaving this room until you get those chairs and tables that _YOU_ messed up, back into place."

I just stared at him.

_"What?_ _Of all the times, why the fuck now?!" _I mentally cursed.

I got back on my feet, and endured the pain of the punch he just gave me. He was a muscular guy. And that hurt like hell. I walked towards him and said, "Get the fuck out of my way,_Sensei._I have no time for your shit, so let me through."

"What a filthy mouth you have there, do you use that mouth to kiss your mother every day? No, wait... Your mother's-"

He didn't get a chance to finish. My right fist made contact with his chin via an uppercut. Even though I wasn't that strong as an average person. My leverage compensated for my lack of strength and my suddenness caught him off guard.

He was looking straight up, not moving his head back down... But when he did, his face was showing that he was obviously unhappy. _Obviously..._

"Heh... You just punched me. I can have you expelled for that, you know? Or worse..." He said, all the while prepping a punch... to my face.

But before he could continue, my best friend, Suginami, made somewhat loud coughs. Which managed to get both of our attention. The people left in the room were looking at us two. Girls could be heard saying stuff like 'I never knew Fujiwara-sensei was a bully, did you?' and 'Ayasaki-kun looks kinda cool, look at how he's standing up to Sensei.' While I heard the guys say, 'Ayasaki-san? Actually getting pissed off? That's rare.' and 'Disrespecting the dead... How low can you get?' Wait... How can I hear them? They weren't thinking out loud, they were whispering to one another.

"Sensei..." Suginami said, "Why are you suddenly punching an honor student out of the blue? Did you realize your **S **tendencies were too great for you to keep bottled up or something?"

"Shut up, you!" replied the teacher, "Unless you want to share the same punishment as this guy..."

He moved to hold me up by the collar, but then I saw Suginami mouth something at me... _"Seio nage"_is what he seemed to mouth.

Then something clicked in my head... I closed my eyes. Inches before he got a hold of my uniform, I used my left hand to hold on to his right hand, the wrist to be precise, and put my right arm under his left armpit. "What the-?" was his only response... before I threw him over my shoulder. I expected to hear a thud when he met the hard floor, but instead I heard sounds of something breaking. Did I just break his bones? No, that can't be right. Can bones even be heard that loud when they snap, much less break? I guess so. Wait, how is that possible? I'm not that strong enough to break bones anyways.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that I just threw him on top of a table, the ones teachers use. It gave in due to Sensei's weight. But, how did it get all the way over here? I look at Suginami, he avoided eye contact with me while trying to whistle a tune. You bastard... I don't know if I should thank you later or throw you over him now.

"Ayasaki!" said my so-called _teacher_in a not so strong voice, "How dare you that to me! I'll have you expelled for sure!"

_"Au contraire."_ replied Suginami, "He could have you fired from your job. Everyone here saw what you did... What's worse is, I've got video evidence of it all."

He was speechless. That shut him up... temporarily. It took him a while to speak up.

"Y-y-you're bluffing, aren't you?" asked Fujiwara-sensei, stuttering out the start.

He most like isn't. That pervert of a friend of mine Suginami practically has hidden cameras all over the place to peek up girls' skirts and for when they change in the classroom for PE classes. It isn't impossible that he might have a camera that recorded the whole thing.

"Nope, unfortunately I'm not. You want to try me _Sensei_?" said Suginami, in a sadistically mocking manner. Seeing him like that... sends chills down my spine.

The teacher didn't reply... He just stayed there, on the broken pieces of wood that was once a decent table. I took a glance at his back. Good, he wasn't impaled by any of it. Wait...

" Ayasaki-chan!" shouted out Suginami. _*Shudder*_ Stop calling me that, "Weren't you in a rush for something?"

I then realized... Mikoto! I have to go and save her.

I gave Suginami a nod. And he responded with a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, I've got this under control." he said. He might be referring to the mess I made. What a good friend. "And I'll just bring your stuff over to your place."

Once again, I nodded, and ran out towards the shoe lockers. I got to my locker. I opened it hastily. As I was about to get my outdoor shoes, I see that there's a letter on top of it. What's more is it was pink in color and had a red heart sticker as a seal.

_"Is this...? No, I can't think about that right now."_ I took off my indoor shoes and replaced them with my outdoor ones. I left that _letter _on top of the indoor shoes that was now inside the locker. I can't bring that with me. I hope whoever put that in there can understand. And I raced off.

I met Misaki at the designated location and we immediately went to where she suspects they could possibly be. She filled me in on the way... Misaki was walking home together with Mikoto, when they were suddenly confronted by a bunch of thugs. It seemed that they were trying to hit on the two of them. When both Mikoto and Misaki refused to go with them, they tried another method. By force. Somehow, my sister was caught, but before they could get their hands on the other girl (Misaki); she tripped Misaki's almost-captor and told her to run and get help.

We reached the building that Misaki suspected. She was right. It was an abandoned warehouse. I looked through a broken window to see Mikoto. Phew. it's good to see her. However, seeing her tied to a chair quickly brought me to what's at hand. I quickly entered the warehouse, hopefully I got in unnoticed. That's when I noticed Misaki trailing right behind me.

"Misaki," I said in a soft voice, "What're you doing? Don't follow me. You'll only get hurt."

"But, Onii-san..." she replied, "You can't possibly take them all on yourself. And besides I'm her friend"

"Does the chance significantly increase if you're there with me?" I asked, "In this kind of situation, you're more of a liability than an asset. No offense."

"None... taken." Misaki said in a manner that was contradictory to her previous words. "But..."

"Listen..." I began saying words on the spot, hoping that somehow my talent for winging it (improvising) is still as good as I remember, "If you're truly a friend of hers, you'll leave it up to me, her Onii-chan, to save her. Okay?" ... I've always wanted to say that.

"O-okay. I'll get out of here and try - no, I mean - I will go to the police station personally."

"That's a good girl..." I petted her on the head and ruffled her hair a bit in the process. I felt her tremble when my hand land on her head, but that tremble stopped almost instantly.

"Stop it, please..." she said in a soft voice which I could barely hear. Aw, her face is all red. How cute. But, there's a more important matter at hand. So, I should probably stop myself in embarrassing this adorable creature in front of me.

"Okay, okay..." I said in a playful voice, "Now, go."

She didn't respond, she just turned her back and made for the only entrance into this place. As I saw her leave, I turned my focus on my sister.

She was about 50 meters away from me. Seeing her again made me forget about being nervous. She was safe... Or so I thought. When I again saw that she was tied to a chair, the nervousness that I once felt was now replaced with anger. She was surrounded by several men. I'd guess about at least ten of them. Some were as old as a young adult, others looked like they were in their late high school or early college years. Wait, isn't that one guy wearing the same school uniform as mine? What I saw next was that same guy wearing the same uniform as I did went closer to her... He touched her face. Mikoto struggled, almost biting the hand. He went lower to her neck. Feeling it with the back of his hand. Then his "caress" went lower. He...

He put those filthy hands of his and groped her chest.

"No, stop that!" Mikoto screamed out, "Please, don't..."

"Shut up, you brat!" he said, "It's not like anyone can hear you anyways."

What he did next made my already fuming self lose control... That son of a bitch slapped her.

"LET HER GO!" I yelled out at the top of my lungs. That was the first time I screamed so hard, I even surprised myself.

By the time I knew what I just did, all their eyes were at me. And I was quickly surrounded.

**...**

**..**

**.**

Good job, me.

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><p><em><strong>Prologue: Where It All Began - Part 1 [END]<strong>_

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><p>I made a decision, and that is the prologue will be in two parts. And those two parts be further divided into another two. For a total of 4 prologue chapters... I hope you guys who read this like my cliffhanger. Enjoy! Oh, and do <em>Review<em> if you have the time.


	3. RE-UPDATE

_So, I just got a new laptop with this confusing OS called 'Windows 8'... So, yeah. I'll be continuing from where I left off. Sorry for the inconvenience to those who took a liking to my story._


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